At the Top
by Shatterr
Summary: Once-ler blackmails an unwilling fifteen-year-old named Ted Wiggins to become his personal assistant after he caught his eye during a protest. WIP, M/M, AU, tedler, and cheesy song lyrics
1. Chapter 1

"I want that boy and I want him _now_!"

"But, sir...he's nothing special." Once-ler's secretary mumbled as they both looked out of a window on the top floor, watching as many protestors cursed and held up signs, chanting something or other about work conditions. Oh, _peasants_...but there was one (particularly _normal _looking, Once-ler added) woman with her son. And that son was the most beautiful boy he had ever laid his greedy eyes on.

"Listen!" Once-ler grabbed the secretary by her arm, holding it much too tight as he glared down at her, his blue sunglasses slipping down his nose a little. "I get what I want. There isn't anything in this world that shouldn't be _mine_. And I want that _boy_." He pushed her down, walking back to his office. "Get me all the information you can."

"Y-yes, Mr. Once-ler, sir..." she sniffed, holding back tears as she scrambled back up and to her desk to make some phone calls.

He sat down in his huge office chair, humming gently and tapping his fingers on the expensive top of his desk. This was taking much too long...

And the minutes ticked by, slower than they ever had before, slower than he even ever imagined _possible_. So perhaps he should take some action. Ignoring his dumb secretary as he walked out of his office, he took the elevator down to the ground level and stepped out, walking in to the sea of angry people.

What should have happened was everyone going completely silent: the chanting stopped, the signs lowered. Well, almost everyone complied, except a small group near the front, the mother and her boy, who only shouted louder and louder.

His ignorance was almost admirable, thought Once-ler.

"Hello, my dear citizens of Thneedville," he bowed, "I have heard your cries and understand that you are upset about the layoffs. However, business is _business_. And I _am_ a business man, after all, and I-"

"You're no business man! You're just a greedy, lying sleezebag!" the boy shouted. And Once-ler only smiled and beckoned him and his mother.

_Then_ it was silent.

_Then_ you could hear a pin drop.

"Come with me." He said, a bit annoyed, once they weren't moving.

The boy's mother looked at him, a look of fear quickly turning to rage as she stomped forward. Ted followed, hiding his fear as best as he could (but it was _hard_...).

He took them up to the top level of the building, humming happily to the elevator music and enjoying the sight of his reflection in the glass, and then to his office, once more, ignoring the secretary.

"Have a seat." He motioned to some small, uncomfortable looking chairs.

"I don't want to!" The boy growled. "You're terrible!"

Once-ler sighed, taking a seat in his big chair and pulling his guitar up in to his lap, strumming lazily, as he looked at him from the top of his sunglasses and continued like he had never even spoke, "I'd like to offer both of you positions here at Corporate."

The brown-haired teen went silent, looking up at his mother, who looked lost for words.

There was some silence, then he spoke up, "What do you mean '_both'_? I don't even think I'm old enough to get a job!"

"I don't care. If you want your mother to have a job," he looked down at his guitar, playing a scale, "you have to be my personal assistant."

"No way!"

"Ted..." his mother squeezed his hands and the boy realized he had no choice.

Was this really what God had in store for him? To work for a rich dirtbag who didn't give a crap about anyone but himself? At_ fifteen _years old, no less?

But he had to take it. He had to take this job. Because he loved his mother and he knew being a single parent was hard enough.

So he sighed, putting his hands in his back pockets and looked from his mother to the _scum_ sitting at the desk. "Fine."

Once-ler stopped plucking the strings, smiling. "Great. You start tomorrow. What's your name, kid?"

"Wiggins. Ted Wiggins."

* * *

"So what do I _do_ exactly?" Ted grumbled, staring at the man from across the room.

"You do what I say whenever I want."

"Are you going to explain why you want _me_ to be your personal assistant?"

"I don't need to explain myself, kid."

"Well, yeah, you _do_!" He stood up from his chair.

Once-ler didn't even look up from his paperwork. And that annoyed Ted to no length, so he stomped forward and slammed his palms on his desk. He _still_ didn't look up, dammit all...

"I just wanted some company."

"What do _you_ know about having company? You're a totally conceited _jerk_!"

Once-ler sighed, moving on to the next document. "I'm not as bad as you might think."

"Well that's the kind of _image _you're putting out there! With your dumb designer shoes and fancy sunglasses and ridiculous hat!"

Then he paused, looking up, pulling off his sunglasses. "You don't like them?"

"No! And you know what I _really_ don't like? _THNEEDS_!" And he made sure to spit good on his desk when he said it.

Once-ler let out a gasp, hands going up to his mouth, eyes wide. And Ted almost screamed at the man's stupidity. What was he, _five_?

"What are you, _five_?!" he cried.

"I just...I can't..." Once-ler stared up at him, jaw trembling a little.

Ted rolled his eyes. This _couldn't_ be happening..."_What,_ do you have like, _two personalities_ or something? This is insane!"

The man looked down at his desk, exaggerating a loud sniff as he pulled a drawer open, pulling out a Thneed and thrusting it at him. He caught it with surprise.

"I'm not going to wear this or use it or _anything_."

"Please?"

"No!"

"_Please_?"

"No way!" he shook his head and jumped back a little when he looked up, to see Once-ler crawling across the desk at an alarming rate, now suddenly in front of him, his eyes big and watery as he pushed his bottom lip out. "Pl_eeee_ase?"

Twenty-nine year old entrepreneur genius _my ass_, Ted thought, backing away.

"Just give it a try. I promise you, _everybody_ needs a Thneed."

"Heck to the no." The boy threw it aside, making a face. "I don't need that kind of garbage. Especially when it's ruining the environment."

Once-ler sat on the desk, his legs dangling off it as he pouted at Ted, now holding his cheek in his hand, looking very hurt.

"You're _weirder_ than I thought."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked hopefully.

Ted shifted uncomfortably, not sure of how to answer.

Slipping off the desktop, he grabbed his guitar, wrapping it around his shoulder and started to strum. "I've never met anyone who hasn't had a need. A need for a Thneed! And I can't believe you don't want it, Ted, but I think you better take it 'cause you might end up dead. And I don't want you to be, so_ pleeeeeeease_: Take my Thneed?"

"You're singing? Are you serious right now?" Ted cried, backing away even more, only to fall in to one of his spacious lounge chairs that was _uncomfortably_ comfy.

"I've never met anyone who hated me. I never met anyone who didn't take stuff for free. You're so special, Ted, I knew it from the first glance. I didn't wanna miss my chance..."

"This is getting totally creepy." he mumbled, clinging to the arms of the chair as the man got on top of him, one knee in between his legs and the other outside his thigh.

"So how about we start a _romance_?" he finished his song, pecking the boy on the cheek.

Ted was stunned.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a month since Ted started. Each day was sort of like a new adventure as he was assigned different, new tasks. He always thanked _God_ quietly whenever he could get out of the Once-ler's office, and a little_ louder _when the business man went off to a meeting.

But lately, Ted didn't mind Once-ler's company _that_ much. In fact, some of his traits were maybe..._rubbing off _on him, now?

"You're so sweet, I want to make you mine."

"Mr. Once-ler, _sir_, here's your wine."

"Oh, please, Ted. I'm _serious _here!"

"What is that? I'm afraid I couldn't _hear_." grumbled the boy, pouring the wine into the glass in front of him.

"You heard me...why are you giving me the cold shoulder?" The Once-ler gave him a shy smile, continuing to tap his foot and strum his guitar idly to their rhythm.

"And here's the file folder you requested and your cigar holder." He tossed them on the desk, hands on his hips as he looked out the large window overlooking the Truffula forest.

"I know you're not rhyming by mistake."

"You're giving me a _head ache!"_

Once-ler let out a laugh, amused by his assistant's persistence. "We need to teach you how to play guitar."

"And I think you need to get back to _work_."

The music stopped. "Aww, you wrecked it, Mr. _Rock Star_!"

Ted was glad his back was turned, or his huge grin would be giving him totally away. "You've got a meeting at eleven. Don't procrastinate."

"Says the fifteen-year-old."

"You're hardly a mature adult."

"Hey," the Once-ler murmured, taking a large sip of his favorite wine, "I'm fourteen years your elder. Not only that, but I am your _em-ploy-er_. So I think I deserve a little more respect than the lip you give me."

"_Someone_ has to remind you that you're actually a busy entrepreneur with _work _to do."

"And_ that's _why I hired you, Ted."

His face went hot and red, and he escaped to his little desk in the corner of the room, sitting down and getting started on signing papers and stamping seals of approval.

Once-ler worked for about twenty minutes. And then the mindless strumming started again.

"I just want you to talk to me. I'm giving you a plea...eh, that wasn't that...um...great, but...perhaps I can wait, then you'd give me a chance, 'cause when I see you glance at me, I feel my heart race...and you're doing it right now, I see your cute little face. You look mad, but it's not my fault, and I just-"

"Get to work!" Ted cried, his stern voice faltering as he half-laughed.

Once-ler just smiled.

{-&-&-}

"Why didn't you tell me ahead of time?! I have no idea what to say, I don't even _like _Thneeds, and I-"

"You'll do _fine_. No need to be nervous."

"I'm not a good speaker..." the boy mumbled, rubbing his head as he stared down at his sneakers. He couldn't escape the horrible lump forming in his stomach, curling up his throat and squeezing, making it all tight and dry...

Once-ler wrapped his arm around his shoulders as they walked. "Trust me. It's not as scary as you think it is. Just say what you think. Except, make sure it sounds good...talk about how I gave you and your mother jobs."

"I _said_, I hate Thneeds, and you didn't _really _give us jobs, so I can't even-"

"That's why I brought this!" He reached into his Thneed bag and pulled out yet another Thneed, in addition to the one already around his neck. "You'll have to pretend to support me. At least for now. I doubt they'll ask you any real important questions, anyway." He wrapped and tied it around his neck in the form of a scarf.

Ted scowled, pausing and looked down at it in disgust. "I'm _not_ wearing this."

Once-ler pushed him forward as he continued to walk, leading him to the press room smiling.

"Seriously, you're making me really mad now! I don't want to wear this, it's _girly_!"

The man just kept smiling and let him rant.

"It's ugly and stupid and I hate how soft it is and it's dumb!"

Because now he was all worked up about the Thneed. And he wasn't worried at all about speaking at the press conference.

{-&-&-}

"Here is everything you requested, Mr. Once-ler." Ted muttered sourly as he threw four heavy, plastic bags on his large desk. He had gone grocery shopping for his boss (totally unnecessary, _he_ should be doing that kind of thing) and was totally tuckered out. Not only had shopping been exhausted, but the earlier press conference took all the energy out of him.

"Thanks, Ted. You can stock the fridge."

The boy groaned, grabbing all the bags once more and heaving them up the stairs in his office that led to his Lurkem. Once-ler heard a crash, something rolling down the steps, and swearing. He just smiled and kept signing paperwork until he finished. Glancing out the window, he saw the sun setting and he pushed himself up from his desk, quietly moving up the stairs. It had been a good two hours or so.

He found Ted laying, exhausted on his bed. _His_ bed. Once-ler went over to the side and sat down on it, pulling his guitar in to his lap and wrapping the strap around his shoulder. The teen sat up slowly, blinking his big brown eyes and licking his lips, and then flopped back down, nuzzling his face in to the soft pillow stuffed with truffula tuft.

"Go to sleep, rest your little head. I hope you're nice and warm and cozy in my bed..." Once-ler mumbled quietly, strumming gently on his guitar, his movements almost a little stiff so not to disturb the boy too much, who's eyes were constantly flittering open, only to fall back shut.

He _wanted_ to stay up, but it had been a long, stressful day, and maybe Once-ler even had worked him that hard on _purpose_, just to see him like _this_...

Or as an excuse to have him sleep with him that night. Either way, Ted didn't really _mind_.

The boy grunted quietly, readjusting his head on the pillow so it was turned toward the soft music and Once-ler's voice.

"I love you, Ted..." he gave the strings one last strum, putting it lazily on the floor as he tried to lay as gently on the bed as he could next to his personal assistant, staring at him as he slipped into sleep.

He still had work to do that night. But no money was worth missing moments like these.

Being reminded of his paperwork, he slid out of the bed (it took _a lot _to part from Ted, mind you) and headed over to his office in the next room over.


End file.
